Advertisement
Home Inspiration DIY and Crafts

23 festive ideas that will make you excited for Christmas

From gifts, to wrapping and decor, we’ve got your Christmas style covered with these cost-effective and fun festive ideas. Time to get your yule on!

Advertisement

23 festive ideas that will make you excited for Christmas

You don’t have to spend a fortune to have a wonderful Christmas, in fact, we think sometimes it is the simple ideas that have the most impact. From wrapping to Christmas decorations for your table, home and tree we have it all covered.

Round up the kids or grab some friends and have a go at making some of these stylish and simple ideas.


Select some of your old decorations and tape them halfway up using painter’s masking tape then paint the bottoms in your chosen colour.

Pop a cheap print (or print one off the internet) into a shadow box frame and add confetti (we cut up metallic cellophane and tissue paper). Display on a sideboard or on the wall.

decorations Buy yourself some gold metal bracelets from your local $2 shop and wrap twine or metallic thread across them to create a spider-web effect or a star pattern. Hang on a branch or on your Christmas tree. These are cheap and very effective!

If it’s Christmas at your place with lots of kids running around, why not personalise their drink bottles with a simple letter sticker for each child’s name.

Advertisement
These take less than 30 minutes to make and only require three items: a gold hoop, white wool and gold beads. Cut wool into 60cm lengths; you will need about five lengths per bunch. Fold wool in half and loop through hoop so your finished drop is about 30cm. Thread on gold tube beads in a design of your choice and hang.

Cut out circles in lightweight card (ours were about 20cm in diameter). Fold circles in half and cut to make half-circles. Curl each one into a cone Christmas tree and staple ends together. Thread cones onto pieces of clear nylon thread, spacing them as you please. Secure thread with a piece of sticky tape.

Edible gifts are perfect for friends, family, neighbours, teachers… well, everyone! Whip up a batch of your favourite cookies in different sizes; the best way to do this is to weigh each blob of dough, adding a little more each time. When cookies have cooled, drizzle icing on each layer as you stack them. Decorate with sprinkles for a festive look. When icing has set, wrap in cellophane or place in a pretty gift box.

Sew gold bells to the corners of your cushions. This simple idea is a great way to embellish your favourite cushions for festive-season entertaining. This project will cost you $2 for a packet of 20 bells (available at most $2 shops).

Advertisement
Give plain paper bags a festive touch by cutting out letters and numbers from gold glitter card and gluing them on.

This is one for the whole family. Hand out paint brushes and invite them to paint designs on A3 sheets of plain white paper and white gift tags using a testpot of gold paint. Leave to dry then wrap away.

Display your Christmas cards on a wire grid. Hang grid on a wall or place on a sideboard.

Put a set of LED seed fairy lights in a big jar or vase. These lights look so amazing over a fireplace or on a buffet or sideboard you’ll want to keep them there all year round.

Advertisement
Stack two sheets of plain paper, draw on a shape and then cut out so you have two identical shapes. Sandwich goodies between the two paper shapes and sew around edges to enclose. Decorate with letters.

Count down the days to Christmas with your own countdown candle. Buy a candle in your favourite scent and remove the label. On the computer create a small table with the numbers 1-25 on it. Print out and attach to candle with double-sided tape. Mark off each day in December until Christmas!

Personalise presents with Polaroid-style photo tags.

Cut pine (6cm wide x 1cm thick) into these lengths: 1m (trunk), 50cm, 44cm, 36cm, 32cm, 27cm, 20cm, 16cm, 12cm, 8cm and 6cm. If you don’t have a saw, Mitre 10 has a cutting service. Lay branches across trunk, leaving about 3cm in between. Secure each branch to trunk with two screws (screw in from back). Prop against (or secure to) wall and add decorations.

Advertisement

Write names on a plain side plate with a black porcelain pen then bake in the oven to set the ink.

Cut out the letters ‘W’, ‘S’ and ‘H’ from some glitter card or patterned paper. With craft glue stick the letters and a candle (replacing the letter ‘I’) onto the front of a plain card then write your Christmas message inside.

Jazz up plain glasses and vases by wrapping foil ribbon around the outside.

Advertisement

Use a gold or black pen and write the present recipient’s name or a festive word on A3 white paper.

You will need a polystyrene ring, two lengths of thick tinsel (if you can’t find any, use three lengths of standard tinsel), sticky tape and a piece of ribbon for hanging. Take the end of one piece of tinsel and tape to the back of the ring, then wind the tinsel around the ring and secure end with tape. Repeat with other tinsel piece until ring is completely covered. Tie a piece of ribbon around the top and hang.

Advertisement

Created by: Vanessa Nouwens

Advertisement

 

Related stories


Advertisement